Lamar Jackson celebrates a Justin Tucker game winning 55-yard field goal with two seconds left in regulation on the way to Baltimore's 47-42 victory over Cleveland. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Can you celebrate a game for the ages even in defeat?
No, the Browns were not buying the “moral victory” angle after they lost, 47-42, to a truly heroic performance by Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
It was an incredible night of lightning-quick scoring drives against expiring defenses. There were nine rushing touchdowns and 878 combined yards of offense. There were 20 points scored in the last 1:51 of the game.
But in the end, Jackson was unstoppable by land and by air, and he pulled out a game that Baltimore could not afford to lose.
“He is an unbelievable player,” said Baker Mayfield, who out-threw Jackson in yards (343 to 163) and touchdowns (2 to 1) but was in awe, like everyone else, of what he just witnessed.
Exhausted from slipping and sliding and escaping and running for 124 yards and two touchdowns in building a 34-20 Ravens lead, Jackson left the game for most of the fourth quarter to be treated for cramps. The reigning MVP then trotted hurriedly out of the locker room after the two-minute warning with his team behind, 35-34, and facing fourth-and-5 from the Browns’ 44-yard line.
Ravens backup quarterback Trace McSorley had suffered an ankle injury after slipping awkwardly on the cold, slick grass in FirstEnergy Stadium.
“It was like a scene out of a movie,” Mayfield said. “I hate that for Trace McSorley. Praying that he is OK. As soon as he went down, you could see Lamar come trotting back onto the field. It was like, ‘Geez.’ He is a great player. You are just going to have to try to contain him. You are never going to be able to stop guys like that. He is just a great player.”
There were countless breath-taking plays the teams provided a “Monday Night Football” audience on this night. But the one Jackson proceeded to make was an all-timer.
He escaped pressure from Olivier Vernon, who had two sacks in the game, sprinted to the right and heaved the ball in the middle of the field to wide receiver Marquise Brown. Brown had suffered three drops in the game, but this one he caught as cornerback Terrance Mitchell broke to defend another likely scramble run by Jackson.
Brown raced to the end zone for a 44-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion run by J.K. Dobbins made it 42-35, Ravens, with 1:51 to go.
“He should not be able to escape the pocket like that. Disappointing,” said Browns coach Kevin Stefanski.
Mayfield responded with a touchdown drive that proved too good and too fast.
He completed four passes in a row and the last one Kareem Hunt dragged Baltimore safety DeShon Elliott to the left pylon for a 22-yard touchdown. Cody Parkey, who missed two costly kicks – a 39-yard field goal try and a PAT – made the extra point to tie the score at 42-42.
One problem. The Browns’ TD drive consumed only 47 seconds. When Hunt picked himself off the ground in the end zone, there were 64 seconds left to play.
“Defense’s time to stop them,” said defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, who had one of four sacks of Jackson. “As long as there’s time on the clock, I think we always still have energy [to finish the job].”
But they had zero energy left.
Other than the pass to Brown on the previous series, Jackson had done all his damage with his legs. He was 7 of 13 for 125 yards passing up ‘til then. But then he connected with Browns-killer tight end Mark Andrews for 14 yards, and then again for the same. Jackson threw to Willie Snead for six yards and once more to Andrews for four to put the ball at the Browns’ 37. He spiked it there to stop the clock with :07 left.
Justin Tucker, the NFL’s all-time most accurate kicker, who had a PAT blocked earlier, then split the uprights from 55 yards for what should have been a final score of 45-42.
With 2 seconds left, the Browns tried one of those last-ditch lateral plays. They wound up going backwards 27 yards and losing the ball in their end zone for a Baltimore safety to account for the 47-42 final score.
Stefanski seemed to take the loss harder than anyone.
“We came here to get a victory, and we did not,” he said in the wee hour of Tuesday morning. “Very hard-fought game on both sides. I appreciate how the guys battled, but we just did not do enough to get a win. We made mistakes, really from myself to the coaches to the players to the offense, defense and special teams. We just were not clean enough to beat a good team, and that is disappointing.”
Parkey’s missed kicks accounted for four points lost. And Mayfield was really upset for his first interception in 187 pass attempts. It came on his second possession of the third quarter, with the Ravens ahead, 28-20.
On first down, Mayfield’s pass for Rashard Higgins was intercepted by linebacker Tyus Bowser, who showed blitz but reversed into coverage. Mayfield didn’t see him.
Stefanski fell on his sword, saying, “That was a good defensive call. It was a great play by [Bowser] dropping on a fire zone. We got fooled there. I got fooled there.”
Mayfield was distraught with his interception in seven games.
“They did a good job of dropping out, showing a look with three big guys on the edge on the left side,” he said. “No. 54, Bowser made a great play. I just have to be able to see him dropping in underneath that stop route and take care of the ball. Plain and simple, just take care of the ball and give ourselves a better chance to win. They got points off of that, so it sucks.”
It was the biggest defensive play of the game.
For three quarters, the Ravens’ physical cornerbacks throttled Browns wide receivers. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey forced two fumbles (recovered by the Browns) and punched out a would-be completion. For much of the game, the biggest plays in the Browns’ passing game came on Ravens pass interference penalties. This was a game in which Odell Beckham Jr. was sorely missed.
But the Browns figured it out in the fourth quarter and Mayfield and his gritty receivers made some plays, and Hunt and Nick Chubb pounded the ball down the field to reclaim their first lead since 7-0.
The game meant much more to the Ravens’ playoff chances than the Browns’.
Baltimore (8-5) is still outside the seven-team AFC playoff field, but its favorable schedule in the last three games and their gutty win gives the Ravens a decided edge in the wild-card chase.
The Browns (9-4) lost no ground with this loss in the standings. They are still holding down the No. 5 AFC seed, with Indianapolis (9-4) sixth and Miami (8-5) seventh.
While the Browns and their fans may lament this loss as another game that got away to a division rival, they should grow from the fact it took the most heroic performance of an individual player seen in FirstEnergy Stadium to beat them.
“We are going to use [the loss] in a positive way,” Mayfield said. “I know this team. I know the guys in this locker room. I know the staff. We are going to handle it correctly.”